


Wounds, Old and New

by Creative_Vexes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Arguing, Caring, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, M/M, No Voltron Lions, Sheithlentines 2021, cleaning up wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29350104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creative_Vexes/pseuds/Creative_Vexes
Summary: Shiro loves the fact that Keith is Spider-Man. He loves how Keith takes on this responsibility to help others, no matter what. But seeing him go off and get hurt time after time, again and again, it's starting to become a bit more than he can handle. But he can't just tell Keith to stop being Spider-Man or to take a break...can he?
Relationships: Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13
Collections: Sheithlentines 2021





	Wounds, Old and New

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dimplelegacy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimplelegacy/gifts).



> Hello! I haven't actually written a fic in years so sorry if the grammar or pacing seems off. This is a gift as part of the Sheithlentines 2021 gift exchange! This particular fic was written for @ dimpleagency on Twitter and on ao3. 
> 
> I've always loved Sheith Spider-Man AU so when I saw they also enjoyed Superhero AU, I had to seize the opportunity to finally flesh out this idea I had for a while. 
> 
> I may continue this story so be sure to bookmark or follow for more if you wanna see where this story may go! Enjoy!

At this point, it was just a long and welcomed pattern in Keith’s day.

He would wake up, stuff his face with some kind of quick breakfast, say goodbye to Kosmo, slip on his suit, and go out for his morning patrol. Very rarely did he see a lot of action early in the morning. Maybe he’d see a lost child or a police chase, but nothing at the level of ‘super-powered freak-show wreaking havoc downtown’. Those were normally dished out later in the evening.

Having whatever spare time he could find, Keith always made sure he, quite literally, swung by Shiro’s apartment to wish him a good morning. And more often than not, Shiro was there waiting for him. Standing there on his fire escape, coffee or tea or bagel in one hand, his other free to wave back at his love.

It had been several months since Shiro discovered Keith’s secret. Though if Keith had it his way, Shiro never would have found out. Though it ended up being better than he expected, he still didn’t want Shiro to worry about him.

But then came the day when Shiro, being the ever professional photographer he was, followed Spider-Man and Electro from rooftop to rooftop, trying his best to get the best pictures he could. And when Spider-Man fell from the top of a building, colliding with the rails of the fire escapes as he fell to the hard pavement below, Shiro questioned whether it was morally right to take off the vigilante’s mask to see if he had a concussion.

But he knew the hero couldn’t help anyone if he was hurt like this, or worse. So off the mask came, and Keith’s three-year-long secret had finally been revealed.

Keith had never wanted Shiro, or anyone for that matter, to know his secret. The stress and worry it could do to them just wouldn’t be worth it in his mind. But Shiro being the good friend he was didn’t care. After a long conversation later that night, Shiro came to terms with the double-life that Keith had been leading behind his back all this time.

To be fair, in hindsight, he was surprised he didn’t figure it out sooner. The constant abandoning of plans, the bruises and cuts and scrapes that seemed to come out of nowhere, the times where Shiro would go days without hearing from his friend only to find him limping down the street one day like everything was fine. It annoyed Shiro at first.

And in a way, it still did.

But, life went on, as it always does. Their friendship, however, didn’t last. But not with an unhappy ending.

Their friendship only ended by its own blossoming into a romantic relationship that the pair had been secretly wishing for themselves for years. Keith had surprised Shiro at his apartment window one night, a bag of Chinese takeout in one hand that Keith couldn’t help but tease Shiro with as bribery for letting him in. Shiro had rolled his eyes at the ‘payment’ Keith was offering him, since they both knew that Mrs. Lulu’s shrimp lo mein was one of Shiro’s favorite meals in the whole city. So, he let Keith in. And they talked…and talked, and talked. It was then that Shiro allowed himself to ask questions. He didn’t want to bombard Keith when he first found out, thinking that there was still some privacy in Keith’s life that he wanted to retain.

Keith appreciated the hesitation. Shiro being the one and only person that now knew his secret, he wasn’t sure how to approach it. Should he stay away from Shiro? Should he act as if nothing had ever happened? Should he ignore all the feelings he had for the man that had been building up inside of him just begging to be let out before they boiled over? It was a large gray area that Keith had no idea how to traverse. Like no man’s land, he didn’t see a way either of them could walk away from this unscathed and without damage. But Shiro, to his surprise, took it rather well. After he had mulled it over, he opened up to Keith and told him how proud he was. Which of course made Keith blush like an idiot, thank God he still had his mask on at the time.

So when Shiro started asking questions about his powers, his web shooters, the villains he had taken down in the years past, Keith felt confident that things might not bad between the two of them after all.

Shiro, on the other hand, felt a different kind of feeling. He was no fool. He knew Keith had been hiding something from him. But he had always assumed it was the feelings he had for him. Keith wasn’t exactly subtle in his glances or compliments and absolute refusal to see Shiro feel upset for whatever reason. Plus, more obviously, the night they had both gotten just a tiny bit tipsy and Keith graciously took the opportunity to grab Shiro’s ass as he helped him up the stairs to Shiro’s apartment.

But all this time, he was waiting for Keith to make his move. He sat there, patiently waiting for Keith to finally admit out loud that he liked Shiro and wanted something more than just friends. But he never did. And part of Shiro wondered if he perhaps misread all the signs he thought he saw. Until he discovered the double life Keith was leading, and it all suddenly clicked.

He wasn’t ignoring Shiro all this time because he didn’t want to be around him or that he didn’t like him. It was the exact opposite. He was doing it because he wanted to protect him. He feared that if he let Shiro get close, that he would get hurt in the process. Keith explained that’s why he wore the mask. It wasn’t to protect himself, but to protect the ones he cared about.

It felt like an elephant had taken one of its feet off of Shiro’s chest. Suddenly things started to fall into place; clicking together like the pieces of a puzzle Shiro had been stuck on for years.

He didn’t know how it happened, but he suddenly saw himself lean in closer to Keith. The hero’s eyes went wide, both of them knowing what was about to happen.

But Shiro stopped.

He couldn’t. Keith had his plan, and he wasn’t going to ruin it any farther. He apologized, looking down at his hand as his fingers sat not even an inch away from Keith’s. Before he could continue his apology, he saw Keith’s hand slide over his, his thumb gently gliding over his knuckles. He looked up just in time to see Keith close the gap between the two of them.

Neither of them spoke. There was nothing to say after all. They had been wanting this moment for what felt like ages. To be honest and vulnerable with the other; to let the other know just how much they truly and sincerely cared about them. Their lips left only for a split second before one of them went back in for more, craving the other’s soft and inviting embrace. Their fingers intertwined with the other’s hair, Shiro weaving his way through Keith’s mullet while Keith ran his fingers up and down the soft fuzz of Shiro’s buzz cut.

It wasn’t until Keith broke their kiss, for real this time, that the silence was broken between them.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke softly.

But Shiro shook his head, his smile never faltering even for a second. “Don’t be,” he responded. “Don’t apologize for my mistakes.”

“Shiro-”

“Keith,” he interrupted, “I know why you did what you did…but I just want you to know that…” The words were almost difficult to find not because Shiro was tongue-tied, but because his thoughts were flying through him a mile a minute that it was almost impossible for him to pin his feelings down into one concrete sentence for him to try and utter out. “That…I’m willing to take that chance. I’m willing to try, if you’ll let me.”

How Keith wished he had his mask with him and not tossed aside in Shiro’s kitchen just out of reach. He never liked to cry in front of others. And while he certainly wasn’t going to bawl like a baby right now, he most certainly felt his eyes start to grow warm, his vision growing just the tiniest bit blurry as tears started to slowly well up in the corners of his eyes. He dragged the back of his hand across his eyes and he regained his composure. Now wasn’t the time to look like a fool. Now was the time for him to take the risk and try to achieve what he had been wanting ever since he met Shiro at their college study hall.

“Shiro…are you sure?”

He chuckled gently. “I’ve never been more certain.”

Three months later, their relationship had only grown stronger. It took Keith a long time to admit his true feelings for Shiro, taking a lot of courage for him to finally say the ‘L’ word. But, emotions and feelings never being his forte, the word was lodged in his throat just itching to be let out. Still, their relationship grew stronger in other ways. Sleepovers, late night texts, date nights whenever the city wasn’t on the brink of being blown up by some maniac in a rhino suit, and of course, the moments Keith had only imagined when he was alone in his bedroom at night.

For Keith, the relationship between the two of them was going better than expected.

As for Shiro, things weren’t looking so pleasant. Not that he wanted things to end between them. He adored being with Keith any chance he got. Which lately was a lot since Keith had been sleeping over more and more frequently. In fact when asked what happened to Keith’s apartment or if he was missing any of his rent payments, Keith would always say that things were fine and that he just wanted to be with Shiro. He wondered if Keith’s apartment at this point was just being used for storage, especially since even Kosmo at this point had made himself at home at Shiro’s place.

No, he never once entertained the idea that things between him and Keith would need to end. What bothered him was knowing that one day Keith might go out to save someone from a burning building or stop a robbery or a car chase or another crazy person with, who knows at this point, sand powers, and he won’t come back. He’ll kiss him goodbye, time will pass, and he’ll see his face all over the news, never to be seen in person again.

But he couldn’t voice those concerns. How could he? It’s not like he could ask Keith to stop being Spider-Man. Not only would it be incredibly awkward, but extremely selfish. To take the city’s hero away from them just so he could have his own peace of mind would be unfair on so many levels that Shiro would never be able to forgive himself. He would just have to grin and bear it for the time being.

Keith was at least exceedingly apologetic whenever he had to cancel plans or leave midway through their dinner or movie date because his spider sense was warning him of danger that needed his attention right then and there. He always tried to make it up to Shiro the next time he saw him, whether it be through food he couldn’t afford or another promise he would hope to keep or the few times where he took Shiro to his bedroom and apologized in more physical and personal ways. The latter of which Shiro was grateful for but always felt were a bit excessive…sometimes.

But Shiro understood. Keith had a job to do, and he was pretty damn good at it too. So, every morning, before he went about his day, he’d go outside if Keith hadn’t stayed over the previous night and, like clockwork, would see Keith swing by and wish him a good morning. It was the happiness he found in those little moments that made all the hardship and stress and anxiety worth it.

Yet despite all his best efforts, like an insect that kept biting at him repeatedly throughout the day, he still felt a sense of worry and unease seeing the fights that Keith would get into. A fact he knew he could never mention to Keith since that would only proves his earlier fears correct.

He walked down the street, mulling over what he needed to do today. None of it was necessarily something that needed to be done, it was one of the first days off he had in a long time, but Shiro never liked doing nothing. He always felt like he had to be doing something, otherwise he was just wasting the day away. A fact Keith had to constantly remind him was not true and that a mental break was always a good idea. And Shiro listened, most of the time anyways.

He thought about what tonight might bring. Keith was coming over, of course. They didn’t have any specific plans, but then again they never did. They just enjoyed being in each other’s company whenever they finally had the chance to do so. He sighed, wondering how long he might have with Keith tonight before he had to go out and do more superhero action.

This was ridiculous. He felt awful for wanting to keep Keith to himself as much as he did. It wasn’t like he owned Keith. But in some weird way, he felt entitled to a little more time to him, especially now that they were together. Sure he had his own life too, with his photography and other friends to spend time with. But he always imagined coming home from work one day, seeing his partner do the same, both of them falling onto the couch after a long and exhausting day and just being with one another. Things like that weren’t easy to come by when your boyfriend was the city’s one and only superhero. He just wished he had more time with Keith was all. Not to mention the time he didn’t have with Keith that it wasn’t because he was literally risking his life to protect people. A noble act that Shiro greatly admired, yes, but not without its challenges.

As if answering his silent prayer, Shiro saw a thick white stream of goo whizz by his head, slamming against the wall beside him. Startled, he looked at the weird substance to see it was a…web? He soon giggled, shoulders bouncing a little as he looked over to see Keith, clad head to toe in his red and blue suit, backpack with a spare set of clothes resting on him, crouched down on a rooftop, waving at him.

Of course Shiro smiled and waved back at his love, finding the act amusing as well as a tad ridiculous considering a few people were probably walking by and wondering either what Shiro was doing standing in the middle of the sidewalk like a selfish prick, or why he was so special to get personal attention from Spider-Man himself. Before he could worry about any of those people however, his stomach began to growl. He didn’t even realize it was lunchtime; he just went about his day until the sun went down if there were no deadlines for him to meet. He looked around and saw one of his favorite spots just down the road. CJ’s Café, a classic. He pointed down the street before miming the eating motion, inviting Keith to have lunch with him.

Keith would be thrilled to do so of course. But the city needed him…right? His spidey sense as he called it wasn’t going off. He heard no sirens or cries for help, and he was actually pretty hungry himself since his breakfast that morning consisted solely of a piece of toast. He gave Shiro a quick thumb up before standing up and shooting his web towards the café, swinging over the busy streets and finding himself a safe place to change out of his costume and back into his normal clothes.

Eagerly, Shiro moved for the café and found them a seat by the window. It wasn’t long before Keith showed up, his hair a little messier than normal from wearing the mask all day, not that Shiro cared.

Keith moved quickly for Shiro, smiling as he instinctively went in for a hug. “Hey you,” he greeted the other.

“Hey, yourself,” Shiro replied before kissing the top of Keith’s head as he returned the hug. “I already ordered for you.”

With a roll of his eyes, Keith sat down. He wasn’t really surprised though. Shiro did stuff like this all the time. And every time when Keith told him he didn’t have to, Shiro would always rebuttal with how he knew and did it anyways. Like an endless pattern that the pair never grew tired of. Or at least, not completely. Keith would always find some way to pay Shiro back for whatever amount of kindness he showed him. “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing.”

“Do I ever let you get away with that?”

“This time, you will,” Shiro snapped back with a small smirk.

“Sure,” the vigilante replied with a nod and a sarcastic tone. Again, a pattern that never stopped repeating itself.

Soon, their drinks arrived. Shiro of course took a small and careful sip of his coffee, taking his time to enjoy and savor the flavors of it all. Keith on the other hand was desperate for the caffeine kick and gave the latte two quick blows before he took a long sip. It was still hot, but it didn’t burn…that bad.

“Oh, my God, I needed that,” Keith said before taking another slow sip.

Chuckling, Shiro set his cup down and finally took a moment to take Keith in. Every now and then he would find a new bruise or cut or scrape on him. This time it was both a red mark on his lower jaw as well as a few scrapes on his knuckles. He sucked in his lips, his concern begging to be let out and to figure out if Keith was really being safe out there. He knew he had to trust Keith, but it was becoming more and more difficult with every new wound he would find on the man. “Long day at the office?” he teased, feigning his ignorance of the new marks on Keith’s hands and face.

“And it’s not even over,” Keith groaned.

“I heard about the mugging at Sal’s,” he mentioned. Pictures from bystanders always made it online before the news ever broke the story themselves. In a way it was easy for Shiro to keep tabs on Keith’s heroics without seeming like a stalker.

“That wasn’t even the worst of it. There was a bunch of thugs in Central Park earlier harassing a bunch of people, tourists probably, and they weren’t even doing anything! They weren’t taking their money or-or beating them up. Just shoving them around and acting like they were hot shit or something!” Another slow sip, and Keith’s coffee was already halfway gone. “So I see them and I drop down to tell them to knock it off, and the next thing I know there’s ten more of them that just walk out of nowhere and form this little circle around me!”

“Like a gang-up?”

“Exactly like a gang-up. It was like it was straight out of some cheesy movie from the eighties. I guess they were just doing that to get to me or something because they all had weapons. A wrench, a bat, a hammer, a knife, even a gun. They were just waiting for me! It was like it was some weird revenge scheme or something.” Keith ran his thumb over his sore knuckles, no doubt in Shiro’s mind now that the wound was from that same fight.

Shiro sighed, at least glad that Keith was alive. “So how long did it take you to take care of them?”

“Oh not even five minutes,” Keith answered with another small laugh. “The dude with the wrench though got a good hit in,” he said, pointing to the red mark on his jaw. “Hurt like hell, but it’s already healing.” He saw it as a mark of pride in a way. True he didn’t like having his enemies get a hit in, and who would? But they were just marks that for the most part faded over time. They showed how every time Keith would get knocked down, he’d get right back up; an idea he applied to everything in his life.

It was getting harder for Shiro to hide his discomfort. This wasn’t right. Keith shouldn’t be proud that he was throwing himself into danger like this. Sure it was fine at first; he had a responsibility to protect the city after all. And Shiro couldn’t blame him for admirably honoring that promise he made to himself and doing whatever he could to protect the little guys in life. Shiro knew that if the roles were reveres, he would absolutely be doing the same thing and helping the city at all costs. But seeing how close Keith came to death as time went on, knowing it was him fighting the man with the mechanical arms or the mutant lizard person or the large behemoth of a man dressed like a rhino…what the hell was wrong with this city?

He ran his prosthetic hand through his hair, sighing as he took another sip of his coffee, thinking of a way to try and change the subject.

But such a sign of discomfort wasn’t easily hidden, and Keith took notice right away that something wasn’t sitting right with Shiro. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Hm?”

“You have a long day too?”

Shiro shook his head. “No. Nothing like that.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s nothing, really,” he said with a smile, waving off the idea.

“Hey,” Keith reached out to lay his hand on top of Shiro’s, “you know the rule. You can tell me anything, remember?”

He looked down at their hands, keeping his smile as he turned his hand over in order to grab Keith’s, gently stroking his thumb against the red and wounded knuckles as carefully as he could. “I do.”

Keith didn’t want to press Shiro. He trusted him enough to know that if something was wrong, Shiro would tell him eventually. Either that or Keith would figure it out himself and would confront the man about it, but that was a rarity and thankfully didn’t happen too often. Keith returned the soft smile, feeling his chest grow a little warm as he saw Shiro’s smile fail to falter. That smile, those eyes, the man definitely knew how to make Keith forget about all his worries and concerns and stresses in life. “Okay,” he said before taking another, final, sip of his coffee.

This was becoming ridiculous. Shiro knew he would have to tell Keith sooner or later. And it’s not like it was a big secret. He was just worried that Keith would hurt himself. It wasn’t like he was asking him to put the mask away forever. He just wanted him to be a little more careful was all. Surely Keith would understand, right? He had to see where Shiro was coming from. “Actually, while you’re here, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

“Oh, um, okay,” Keith said, leaning in a little closer. He knew it. He knew there was something on Shiro’s mind. He didn’t even need his powers to be able to tell something was going on. “Is something wrong?”

“No, really,” the man repeated.

“Did you get the promotion?” Keith asked optimistically.

Shiro laughed, almost close to forgetting about the fact he was actually up for that promotion at work and was playing the ever-daunting waiting game. Such job openings were hard to come by in the world of journalism without making a few close friends as well as a few enemies, so to speak anyways compared to the enemies Keith had to face. “I wish.”

“A pay raise is a pay raise, Shiro.”

“I’m not worried about it.”

“You shouldn’t be.” He gave Shiro’s hand a small squeeze. “So go on. Tell me.”

Shiro inhaled, trying to find the right words, or at least the right order to put his thoughts in. Did he think Keith would take this the wrong way? No, not at all. But he wanted to voice his concerns properly. He didn’t want to simply blurt them out like word vomit and hope the point came across. He had to do this right. He had to focus and make sure he did this appropriately. “Keith…are you sure that-”

Keith immediately perked up, a sign Shiro recognized all too well.

“Keith?”

“One second,” Keith said, looking out the window just in time to see a police car drive past the café, turning its lights and siren on right before it passed the pair.

_‘Dammit,’_ Shiro thought. “What is it?”

“Not sure,” Keith said as he stood up, quickly looking back at Shiro. “I…I’m really sorry, Shiro. I-I just-”

“It’s fine, Keith,” Shiro interrupted, holding up a hand. “Really, it’s okay. Go. We can talk later.”

“Are you sure?”

“Go!” Shiro went on, a small chuckle escaping him. This was par for the course in a way. Keith always had to run off and take care of things at some point during their time together. “I’ll text you, okay?”

Keith smiled, sighing as he gave the man a small and grateful nod. “Thanks,” he said before rushing past the man and towards the exit.

Shiro kept his smile, thought it did fall slightly as he looked back at the now empty seat for a moment. His coffee still warm, he went to take another sip before he felt the familiar touch of Keith’s hand on his cheek, turning his head just enough to plant a kiss on the man’s lips. A small and muffled cry of surprise escaped Shiro as their lips met, but he wasn’t complaining. He would never complain about a quick kiss from Keith.

“I’ll see you tonight. I promise.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Besides, I still owe you for the coffee.”

“Spending time in my apartment is paying me back for the coffee?”

“Is there a problem with that?” Keith asked with a raised brow.

Pause. “Not at all.”

“That’s what I thought,” Keith said before giving the man another quick kiss and rushing for the door. “I’ll see you later!”

Shiro couldn’t help but laugh again as Keith’s antics. One thing was always certain. Keith, no matter how many times he left, always came right back.

* * *

Keith naturally had every intention of keeping whatever promises he kept. Even if his duties as a vigilante kept him from completing them at times, he made certain that he always made it up to his friends one way or another. Thankfully, Shiro was more than understanding most of the time when it came to the simple things such as Keith running late or forgetting to pick something up because of whatever criminal or super-powered egomaniac was doing their own usual routine.

Luckily, none of them decided to rear their nasty, and questionable insanity-riddled, heads for the rest of the day. Spider-Man had no trouble swinging his way over to Shiro’s apartment building and crawling down the wall to one of Shiro’s less visible windows between his building and the next. Thankfully for Keith, while the building next to Shiro’s was a few stories smaller, a billboard obscured part of the view and gave Keith plenty of cover. He peeked his head in view, looking around inside to see Shiro, still wearing his same outfit from earlier save for his shoes, doing…some kind of dance moves in his kitchen.

Shiro has his back turned to the window, his feet shuffling on the floor as his hips moved back and forth. Music filled the apartment as he tidied up, which wasn’t even that much of a task to begin with. Keith never once saw Shiro’s apartment messy, even when Shiro said otherwise. He smiled under his mask, giggling before tapping the window. Of course with the music playing, Shiro didn’t hear his knock at all. But Keith didn’t have to wait long. As Shiro ‘danced’ his way through his usual cleaning, he started to turn and soon noticed the familiar red clad head of Keith’s other identity spying on him and let out a small cry of surprise. He glared at Keith, giving the hero a small pout as he noticed his bouncing a little through his laughter at the amusing sight.

“Do you mind!?” Shiro exclaimed before he moved to unlock his window, opening it with a huff in order to let Keith in.

“Maybe you should start leaving your window unlocked for me,” Keith pointed out as he carefully climbed his way in, making sure his backpack with his change of clothes didn’t knock anything over. “It would make things easier and less embarrassing for you, I’m sure.”

“No way,” Shiro said as he shook his head, giving Keith a small smirk. “There are all kinds of crazies in this town. I never know who could show up and ruin my night.”

Keith chuckled once more as he pulled his mask off, his frizzled hair practically exploding out of the fabric. “What? You mean people like me?”

Shiro kept his smirk, stepping closer and tucking his hand under Keith’s, albeit slightly damp from the mask sweat, chin. “Maybe. But you’re the one exception,” he said before leaning down to give the man a kiss, returning the quick one he had given him earlier that day.

“Lucky me,” Keith said as their lips parted. He set his backpack down and pulled out his clothes, changing into something more comfortable. “Anything interesting happen while I was out?”

“What do you think?”

“Am I not allowed to ask?”

“You can, but I have a feeling you already know the answer,” Shiro retorted as he grabbed his cleaning supplies and put them all away.

“Excuse me for trying to be polite,” Keith snapped back before slipping on his shirt. He fell back into Shiro’s couch before slipping on his socks, which were almost trivial in a way. His boots of his costume were sewn into the legs, the bottom half almost fitting as a onesie. But bright red boots covered in dirt and grime form the city left terrible marks on what was an already clean looking floor.

“What about you?” Shiro asked, moving to sit beside the hero. “No big car chases or bank robberies or lost cats found stuck in a tree?”

“No, nothing that exciting,” Keith remarked, moving to let his head rest against Shiro’s shoulder. “All I can think about right now is how hungry I am.”

Shiro chuckled, kissing the top of Keith’s head before pulling out his phone. “If you’re hungry then why didn’t you eat something before you came?”

“I didn’t have time.”

“You couldn’t have grabbed something on your way here?”

“I’m running on the coffee from earlier and nothing else.”

Shiro paused, looking back at Keith with concern. “Are you serious?” he asked. Keith had to be joking. There was no way all he had to eat today was that one cup of coffee.

Keith shrugged, trying to remember what all he was able to actually eat today. “I had a bagel this morning, then coffee with you, and a hot dog from some guy on Wall Street and then…” he looked back at Shiro. “No, that’s pretty much it really,” he said, acting as if it was nothing or no big deal to begin with.

Shiro however couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How many times had he told Keith he needed to take better care of himself if this was the life he was going to lead? He needed to actually eat more, have a decent sleep schedule, make time for himself, all sorts of things. And he was treating this little fact as nonchalantly as he possibly could. Still, this wasn’t the first time Shiro had to deal with this problem, and he soon found exactly what would make Keith happy. “How does pizza sound?” True it wasn’t the healthiest option for Keith to have when he had barely eaten all day, but go-to comfort food was always a good idea every now and then. Besides, he knew exactly how Keith liked it.

“Only if we can get it like we normally do.”

“Pepperoni and green peppers. What other way is there?”

“People put pineapple on pizza, Shiro. I don’t ask questions like that anymore,” Keith teased, knowing that Shiro was, in fact, one of those people that actually liked their pizza with a little citrus on it.

Shiro rolled his eyes, pulling up their go-to spot on his phone. At least now he had this time with Keith to enjoy, however brief or short it may unfortunately be should something come up that needed Spider-Man’s attention.

“So,” Keith went on with a small groan as he stretched his arms above his head, “what did you wanna talk to me about earlier?”

Shiro froze, his thumb hovering over his phone mid-order. Crap. He had almost forgotten about why he wanted to talk to Keith earlier. “Oh, um…” Well, he did tell himself that he had to talk to Keith about it sooner or later. He missed his chance earlier, so now would be as good a time as any. Which even then wasn’t that much.

“Shiro?” Keith asked, tilting his head a little in curiosity. He sat upright, hoping whatever it was Shiro needed to talk to him about wasn’t that serious.

“It wasn’t that important,” Shiro lied. A lie that Keith naturally saw right through.

“Shiro, come on. You know you can talk to me,” he told the man yet again. “You said you had something to ask me. So go on. Ask me,” he went on, his voice sounding a little more firm. He didn’t want to pressure Shiro into telling him whatever it was he felt the need to try to bring up at their meeting earlier that day, but clearly it had been bugging him for a while. Whatever it was, Keith was certain Shiro would feel better once he got it off of his chest.

The man tried to compose himself. He wasn’t freaking out or shaking, but he could feel his nerves eating at his brain as he tried to figure out how to tell Keith what was on his mind. He didn’t know why this was so hard. He was practically ready to tell Keith earlier at the café. He looked down at his hand, fiddling with the arm of his sofa as he gathered himself and tried to find the right words.

“Shiro?”

“It’s…It’s kind of…”

“If you tell me it’s no big deal one more time,” Keith warned before reaching out to squeeze Shiro’s hand.

With a sigh, Shiro looked back at Keith. “I’m just…I’m just worried about you is all.”

Keith paused, blinking in his almost confused state as he stared at Shiro. “Is that it?” he finally spoke, breaking the silence before he chuckled. “Is that seriously it?”

Biting his lip, Shiro tried to reciprocate Keith’s chuckle and mimic his lighthearted attitude. “Not exactly,” he tried to explain, a wave of guilt starting to slowly creep over him. He returned the small squeeze Keith’s hand gave him before he went on. “I’m…I’m worried that…Listen,” he shuffled on the couch, turning himself to fully face Keith as he tried to put his thoughts together. “I love that you do this. I love that you’re this big hero that looks out for the little guy and that you do these amazing things to help people when clearly so many others would use it to just help themselves.”

As much as Keith enjoyed hearing Shiro say these words, the unmatched guilt that came with the job often leading to him having his own feelings of regrettable disappointment in himself, he could sense the word ‘but’ coming up at any minute. But Shiro was always there for him, it was only right that he was here to return the sincere favor.

“And I know it’s an important job and nothing could ever replace it or come above that.” Now Shiro was feeling as if he was just stalling for time and merely delaying the inevitable. “But…I worry about you. I mean…I worry _for_ you. I worry that one of these days you’re going to get hurt and I’m not going to be able to help you. Or one day you’re going to get so hurt nothing can help you and you’ll end up not being able to do what you love anymore or…”

Keith could tell where this was going.

“Or one day you’ll go out there and…and I won’t ever see you again.”

“Shiro-” Keith felt his heart start to ache. He hated seeing Shiro like this; even more so when he was partially to blame.

“And I know. I know, okay? I know that what you do out there is important. I get that. But, Keith, I don’t know if I can handle this risk. I don’t know how much longer I can worry about you.”

Keith froze for a moment, dread seeping its nasty and ugly head into his heart. “Shiro…are you…are you breaking up with me?”

Shiro immediately snapped into his usual protective self, reaching out with his other hand to gently caress Keith’s cheek, shaking his head as he reassured him. “No! No no no, never. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Keith felt relieved, but that didn’t erase the concerned and anxious look on his face as he tried to piece together whatever it was Shiro was telling him, or possibly even asking of him. “Then what is it? I need you to just tell me what’s happening or else I can’t help you, Takashi.”

The fact that Keith’s first instinct was to help Shiro only made his frustration grow. He pulled his hand back, clenching and unclenching it, back and forth from an open hand to a tight fist as he tried to make Keith see; to make him really understand how he felt. “Keith, it’s not like that! Okay? I just think that, maybe it would be better if you…I don’t know…took a step back from all this hero stuff?”

Keith was silent for a moment as he tried to process what Shiro had asked him. It could have meant any number of things. But surely Shiro wasn’t asking him to give up his heroics and put the mask and costume away forever, right? “A step back?” he repeated. “What do you mean take a step back?”

“I mean I see you fighting people dressed as birds or shoot lightning out of their hands or with prehensile tails or cat burglars dressed as actual cats and it’s just-it’s too much!” Shiro started to blurt out. “These guys always seem to get you hurt no matter what you do and you’re always covered in these bruises and cuts and you always come back broken one way or another and it’s hard! It’s hard to see you like this all the time.”

“Okay, well, maybe not _all_ the time,” Keith pointed out with a small and almost prideful shrug.

“Regardless, Keith, it’s hard for me to always see you like this!”

“Well what do you expect me to do?” Keith asked, pulling his hand away from Shiro. For now, he wasn’t angry with Shiro. But he could still feel himself start to grow frustrated. This wasn’t exactly an easy life he led, and Shiro knew that. He had for a long time, too. To ask him to ‘take a step back’ as he put it when people were out there terrorizing people and causing all sorts of mayhem and do nothing was a near impossible task; one he knew Shiro had to empathize with one way or another. “It’s not like I can quit this job, Shiro.”

“I’m not asking you to quit this job. That would be ridiculous and not to mention incredibly selfish of me.”

“It kinda sounds like that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

“But it’s not!” Shiro insisted. “I’m just asking you to think things over a bit before you jump in head first and put yourself in danger out there! Just, you know, like I said! Take a step back from it all.”

Shaking his head, Keith stood up from the couch with a huff and walked away. Not too far, just a few steps. But far enough that he felt like he had room to breathe, to think things over and make sure he truly understood what Shiro was trying to get at. His fingers weaving their way through his tussled black hair, Keith found himself starting to pace slowly between the edge of Shiro’s living room and his spot on the couch.”So, what? You just want me to let those freaks do whatever they want out there?”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Shiro said defeated, his head dropping slightly. He knew something like this might happen, and he began to question whether it was smart to ever bring this up in the first place. Maybe the little tick in the back of his mind would have been better that having Keith getting angry at him like this. Either that or there could have been a better way from him to bring this up in the first place, but it would have still been the same in the end either way.

“It certainly sounds like it.” They were just going in circles at this point. “I can’t just wait and see how things are going to go if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s not like I can just stand here and be patient and wait to see if the police can handle the guy who can turn his body into sand! Freaks like that are kind of my specialty.”

“I’m just asking you to be a little more careful! Just for me, that’s all!”

“No, you said you wanted me to take a step back. That’s exactly how you said it.” Keith pointed at Shiro as he went on. “You said you wanted me to step away so I wouldn’t get hurt. Well what about the people that can’t take the kinds of punches I can? What about them?”

Shiro finally looked up at Keith, his brows furrowed as he felt his heart rate increase. “You shouldn’t be taking those punches to begin with! I told you I’m not asking you to quit this life. I’m just asking you to be more careful!” Shiro stood up, his eyes still fixated on Keith as their banter continued. Though he didn’t tower over the vigilante, his presence and stance definitely made him look taller when he was as worked up and as passionate as he was now.

“Then say that! Don’t ask me to step away from it all!”

“Well maybe that’s what you should do!” Shiro’s eyes went wide for a brief moment, realizing what he had just said. Not that he didn’t believe it in some capacity, but that he said it in front of Keith, who looked just as shocked and surprised as he did.

“What?” Keith asked softly, his finger dropping as he felt Shiro’s eyes stare into his own, sending chills down his spine as he realized what Shiro of all people was asking him to do.

“Maybe you need to just take a break from this. Not a long one, just a couple days. Just to make sure you don’t hurt yourself.”

“I’m sorry, do you see anyone else out there like me that can handle these guys?” Keith asked rhetorically. “Do you think those police out there can handle the stuff I go through? And I don’t even get paid for it! Hell, half the city hates me for it because they think I start it to begin with!”

“But don’t you think you take it too far?” questioned Shiro. He sighed, realizing that he was getting overtly worked up about this; arguably an understandable reaction but not one that needed to happen since he wanted, no, needed Keith to see his side. And that wasn’t going to happen with the tension in the room as great as it was now. “Look, you don’t eat, you don’t get that much sleep, you can’t hold a steady job and never know when you’re going to lose your apartment, you’re always getting yourself hurt, how am I supposed to react?”

Keith took a smell step forward, trying to find a way to reason with Shiro about this. “Shiro, I get it. Trust me, I do. I’m not exactly thrilled about this either. It’s not like I’m out there thinking I have the perfect life and like I’m not wishing things could be easier. But it’s what I chose. And I can’t get rid of it. I can’t ignore the responsibility of it all.”

“Well if you can’t do it for you, can you at least do it for me?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Shiro groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as he realized his error. “That…that’s came out wrong. I didn’t mean it like that, I really didn’t. I just meant that I wanted you to try and see things from my point of view.”

“I do!” Keith reassured. “I know where you’re coming from, Shiro! I get it, I really do!” He took another small step, just a couple feet of space between the pair of them that was growing more and more tense by the second. “But you have to understand that this is my life! I can’t just change it and decide to ignore any of those consequences.”

“So what am I supposed to do then? Just be fine with the fact you’re risking your life every day and that you could come back one day missing an arm; if you even come back at all!?”

“Even if I did lose an arm, I think I’d be fine,” Keith pointed out, crossing his arms. “What? You’re telling me you of all people are going to try and tell me that losing an arm is the end of it all?”

Shiro looked down at his own prosthetic, mulling the idea over for a moment before shaking it off. “That’s not the point. The point is that I don’t want you to walk out of here one day and then never come back because someone out there took you from me.”

Keith was silent for a moment, taking a deep breath as he tried to think of some way around this. As frustrated as he was, he knew Shiro meant well. Or at least he was coming from a place of genuine concern and worry for his safety and well being. “So what did you tell Adam when he brought this up to you?”

Shiro felt his blood run cold, the flashes of memories he tried to ignore invading his mind as quickly as he could snap his fingers. “Adam?”

“When you told him you wanted to be a cop. Before your accident, and he told you basically what you’re telling me now, how did he react?”

“Adam…He is nothing like me,” Shiro stated. “That has nothing to do with this, okay?”

“Doesn’t it? You told him you wanted to be a cop and he told you exactly what you’re telling me, didn’t he?”

Shiro remembered it all so vividly. His dreams of being a cop, before he knew how corrupt and bought out they could be, before his accident, before he found another way to bring peace to the city by reporting the truth about the criminal activities that plagued their world. Adam told him almost the same things. He told him how he would be worried for his safety, never knowing if he would ever come back. But there was one big difference between the two of them. “Adam left when I chose what was right, Keith. And no matter what you choose, I’m standing by you. Don’t ever think I’m leaving because of what you do out there.”

“Then stop acting like him!” demanded Keith.

Shiro took a step back, expanding the gap between the two of them. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“I am not acting like him.”

“You are.”

“No! I’m just trying to keep you safe! Adam was a controlling and manipulative jerk who just wanted me to fit into his perfect world! I’m actually trying to look out for you!”

Keith unfolded his arms as he went on, knowing he was getting through to Shiro somehow. “You’re sounding just like him. You’re telling me to stop doing what I love, what I _know_ I _have_ to do! How is this any different than what he did to you?”

“Because he was asking me to stop it completely! I’m just asking you to, I don’t know, take a break or think things over or try to be more careful out there!” This was getting nowhere. Shiro’s hand grabbed a tight handful of his hair, his thoughts racking around in his mind as he tried to find some kind of solution to their fight. He hated that this was even becoming a fight in the first place, but yet here they were, clearly not getting anywhere.

Hiding his face in his hands, Keith groaned in frustration, unsure how he could be any clearer and get Shiro to see how what he was doing wasn’t helping either of them. “Well what do you want me to do, Shiro? Because I can’t take a break and I can only be so careful out there! And if you stopped acting like Adam then maybe you would see that!”

“And maybe if you started thinking reasonably then maybe you would see how reckless you’re behaving!”

Their words said, their true feelings now crystal clear, the pair simply stood there, wallowing in their aggravation and annoyance with the other. Nothing could take away what had been said. The next step now was to try and find a way to work around it. But…nothing was said. Instead they simply stared at one another. Their stances strong, their glares fixated, tensions high, nothing would get solved like this. For a moment, there was nothing said between them. No sound in the apartment save for the blood rushing through the men’s ears as they felt their hearts beat aggressively like drums against their chests. It wasn’t until the sound of a siren wailing by that they both broke their gaze, looking to the window as the faint sound of some kind of commotion took their attention away from the other. It sounded like some sort of explosion, or a bang of sorts. Instinctively, Keith went to the window first, peering through the glass to try and see what was happening. Aside from the usual lights of the city that never slept, Keith could see the flashing lights of the police car as it sped by. Although he couldn’t see anything else, his spider-sense made it very clear that something was indeed happening that required his attention.

He looked back at Shiro, his face still painted with the same annoyance he had for the last five minutes. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and started to remove his clothes, revealing the costume underneath. He knew what he had to do. “Look…we’ll talk about this when I get back.” He folded the shirt before tucking it under his arm and beginning to remove his pants, fiddling in the pocket for his mask. “You know I have to go, right?”

Shiro knew he couldn’t be mad at Keith for wanting to leave. And yet, there was the smallest part of him that blamed himself for Keith wanting to leave and seeing the commotion outside as just a perfectly timed excuse for wanting to go. “I know,” he said as he moved towards Keith, holding his hands out in order to take the discarded clothes Keith politely handed to him. He watched as Keith moved to the window he came in from, his mask in hand as he looked back at Shiro one more time. “Keith?”

“I’m coming back.”

Sucking in his lips, Shiro’s fingers clenched as he glanced down at the clothes he held in his hands, silently praying that Keith was telling the truth. “Promise?”

“Have I ever not?” Keith asked, sliding his mask on.

Shiro had to remind himself, same as he did earlier that day, that Keith always came back. No matter what. “Just be careful. Please?”

Keith looked back at Shiro and, though Shiro couldn’t see him through the mask, gave Shiro a small nod. “I will.” He opened the window and stepped outside, sitting on the window sill as he readied himself.

“I’m sorry,” Shiro blurted out, wanting more than anything else for things not to end on bad terms between them.

The hero looked over his shoulder, knowing in his heart that Shiro meant his apology with full and honest sincerity. “I know…me too,” he apologized before jumping back out into the city, following the police towards whatever danger was threatening the city.

Rubbing his arms tenderly, trying to calm himself down, Shiro moved for the open window and slid it shut. As he moved his hand for the latch, he stopped, his hand hovering over the lock before he moved away, remembering what Keith had said jokingly when he entered. Besides, he had to leave it ready for Keith. He always came back after all. And this time should be no different. At least, that’s what he had to tell himself.

* * *

Half an hour passed by as Shiro waited for Keith to return.

Then an hour.

Then another.

Takashi had already given up hope on the fact that Keith might return that night. He couldn’t blame him. After that talk of theirs, it would make perfect sense why Keith would want some time alone. Even if he didn’t come back tonight, he did promise he would come back eventually. Maybe he just needed some space. Maybe whatever he was taking care of was bigger than he expected and he needed his rest. There could be a number of reasons Keith hadn’t returned yet.

His music off, his phone set aside, and his outfit now changed into his sleepwear of a gray tee and long black bottoms, Shiro had resigned himself to having one of his favorite shows playing in the background. Despite the fact he was sitting on the couch and looking at his screen, he wasn’t fully processing what was going on. He was just waiting for time to pass, silently praying that Keith would return. At least, that’s what he had been doing. But it was getting late, and it was starting to look like Keith might not come back.

He screwed up. And this wasn’t just a simple screw up that could be easily fixed or forgotten about. This was a mistake that could have the potential to ruin everything between them. All the hard work they had put into making their relationship work could have just been ruined with a few simple words carelessly spewed out of Shiro’s mouth like he was just telling Keith about his day.

Normally he was the calm one in his friend group, always trying to make sure everyone was focused and headstrong, never letting their optimism down. But even now he couldn’t take his own advice.

As he reached for the remote, there came a quick and almost quiet ‘thud’. A familiar sound. Like something had just hit his wall. Keith. He looked over to the window just in time to see Keith’s head, his mask off, peak through the glass as he tried to open the window, looking a little surprised to see that it was unlocked and actually moving.

Shiro felt relieved seeing Keith again, though it was short lived. Something seemed off about Keith. Like he was being weighed down. Like every movement was slower than normal. Like he was sore.

Shiro stood up, squinting as he tried to get a closer look at Keith as he tried to come inside. “Keith?”

“Hey,” Keith responded hoarsely, almost like he was out of breath. It was then that Shiro noticed the bruises, the dried blood coming from Keith’s nose, and the scrape along his chin.

“Keith!” Shiro exclaimed as he ran across the room to the window, hurrying to try and help Keith inside. He stopped just short of a couple feet from him however, noticing Keith carrying something in his other hand as he shuffled his way inside. It was clear that Keith was hurt somehow now, made apparent by his struggle to enter Shiro’s apartment swiftly and quickly whereas every other time he entered was done so almost effortlessly.

Stumbling as he finally gathered his footing, Keith showed Shiro what he was holding in his other hand; a large square box, lightly stained with grease spots. Shiro looked at Keith in confusion.

“Pepperoni and green peppers,” Keith stated with a small and almost forceful smile, the kind that one would give just to give the other person hope and to make them feel calm when, in actuality, Keith himself was far from alright. This was proven even further by his knees starting to buckle under him, his legs shaking as he took a step back and leaned against the wall, eyes fluttering shut as he tried to compose himself.

“Keith!” Shiro exclaimed once more as he ripped the pizza from Keith’s hand, quickly setting it down and moving to carefully help Keith stand on his own two feet. Keith’s arm draped around Shiro’s shoulders, he managed to walk to the couch with Shiro’s help. No limp. So no twisted ankle. A good sign, right?

“I’m fine,” Keith hissed through the pain. “It looks a lot worse than it actually is.”

“Are you sure?”

“Super healing, remember?” Keith pointed out as they made it to the couch. He sat down slowly, tossing his mask onto the coffee table before cautiously pulling off his gloves.

“How bad is it though?” Shiro prodded. “Let me see.”

Keith obliged, leaning forward slightly in order to peel off his top, which itself had seen better days. Scuffed and torn slightly, Keith’s skin showing through the few small tears in the fabric, the top was handled with care as Keith managed to ball it up and place it on the floor, revealing the several large bruises and cuts along his back, chest, and arms.

Shiro’s jaw hung slightly as he observed the damage. “Wh…J-Just stay here, okay?” he spoke before rushing to his bathroom.

“Looks worse than it really is!” Keith repeated, shouting at Shiro as he saw the man hurry off. “At least nothing’s broken,” he went on as he leaned back against the couch, almost immediately wincing and hissing through his clenched jaw as the sudden pressure against the cuts on his back shot painful jolts throughout him. “At least, I don’t think so,” he added, waiting patiently for Shiro to return. He heard nothing in response, hearing only the clattering of products in Shiro’s bathroom and the scuffle of the man’s bare feet on his floor before he finally reemerged. He carried a first aid kit, one Keith had become used to seeing whenever Shiro thought he might be hurt. Though there were times when he insisted he didn’t need it, this was definitely not one of those times.

Shiro sat down next to Keith, swiftly taking everything out of the kit and readying himself to help clean Keith up. “What happened?”

“You haven’t been watching the news?”

He shook his head, pushing his white tuft of hair out of his eyesight as he tried to focus. “No. I was watching Netflix.”

“Your phone?”

“No. I was watching-“ Shiro shook the answer off, needing to know more. “What happened?”

Keith leaned forward once more, trying to not harm himself any more as he arched his back over, giving his skin a chance to breathe. “It was a tag-team. Herman and Alexei of all people.”

“Remind me again who they are?” Shiro asked as he reading his alcohol wipes.

Keith chuckled a little before answering, “Shocker and Rhino. You’d think Rhino would want someone smart on his team, but instead he gets Herman of all people. Not exactly the brightest baddie I’ve come across.”

“He built super-sonic hand braces that can blast holes through concrete. I wouldn’t exactly call him stupid,” Shiro pointed out.

“He didn’t build them. He stole them from Tinkerer. The only thing he did was make that ridiculous outfit of his. He tries to be a serious villain and he walks around looking like a human quilt,” Keith teased, feeling a little proud of himself for coming up with that nickname when he first met the villain.

Shiro paused, looking at Keith’s back as he held the bottle of alcohol in one hand and the slightly damp cloth in his other. “Okay…this is definitely going to sting a little.”

“I know the drill,” Keith said, not looking back at Shiro as he braced himself. And of course, the cold cloth made Keith’s back feel like tiny needles were being stabbed over and over and over into his already tender and sore skin, like fire was being shot into his open cuts. It soon faded though, a warm sensation washing over the spot as the pain faded away. Of course, it was repeated all over again when Shiro made his way to the new cut, repeated his process of carefully dabbing away any blood on Keith’s back and disinfecting any grime he might have gotten.

“What were they doing?” Shiro continued, hoping getting Keith to talk would take his mind off of the pain somewhat.

“I think it started as the casual, ah, bank robbery,” Keith explained through the small burst of stinging pain, “but it eventually turned into, mph, into Alexei just wrecking shit up.”

Shiro shrugged. “Well, he is dressed like a human rhino.”

“And the other dude had wrist braces with sonic waves so loud they can shatter eardrums. So that’s how my night went.” He finally looked over his shoulder to look at Shiro, who had been sitting on his legs and staring at Keith’s back with laser eye focus. “What about you?” he asked, Shiro glancing over to Keith and going to answer before Keith interrupted him. “Wait, don’t tell me…Netflix?”

Well, it was a good sign that Keith didn’t seem to be angry with him. At least, not that much. “Yeah,” Shiro said with a soft sigh, a small chuckle escaping him as he began to wipe away any blood. “Before I forget,” he said as he reached out to his kit, grabbing a bottle of pain reliever and handing the bottle to his love. “Here. I’m not sure if it’ll help but it can’t hurt, right?”

“Right,” Keith said with a nod, taking two of the small pills. They wouldn’t do much, but he was going to need whatever help he could if he wanted a peaceful sleep through the night with the hopes that he wouldn’t be too sore in the morning. But even then he knew that that battle was one he wouldn’t win and that tomorrow morning would be hell.

“Okay, I think I’m done back here,” Shiro said, scooting back a little so Keith could lean back.

“Thank you,” Keith said, slowly pressing his back against the couch. It still hurt, but not nearly as badly as before. “You eat yet?” he asked, nodding his head towards the pizza.

Shiro went to gently take Keith’s arm, pausing to look over at the box. “No…but I think I’ll pass on the pizza for now.”

“Seriously?”

“Keith, you swung over here carrying that thing yourself. For all I know, that pizza is now a lasagna that’s just a tomato and cheese and bread mush.”

Keith opened his mouth to try and reject Shiro’s idea, but tilted his head to the side a little, realizing he may have a point. “I at least get points for effort.”

“Yes you do,” Shiro said with a small smile before he continued his work.

Thankfully, the cuts on Keith’s arms didn’t hurt him as bad, and he found the pain from those sore areas much more tolerable. “I’ll try better next time.”

“Or you could just have it delivered.”

“It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Well, first you order the pizza, then they make the pizza, and then they put it in their car or on their bike or whatever, and the drive over to our place and-”

“No, not the pizza, Shiro,” Keith interrupted, staring down at the floor as he tried to connect the dots in his head. “Shocker and Rhino…it just seems weird to me. Like, how would those guys get together and decide, ‘Hey, let’s rob a bank together and just make a mess out of things’?”

Shiro shrugged. “Couldn’t say.”

“Herman may be that smart but definitely not Alexei.”

“You think there’s more of them? Like a boss or something?”

“Maybe,” Keith went on in a slightly softer tone, focused on solving the puzzle. “I just don’t know what else they could have done. It seems too…coordinated, I guess.”

“What do I always say?” Shiro said, finished with Keith’s arm and giving him more space.

Keith looked up at Shiro, glancing quickly at his arm before he looked back with a resigned sigh. He knew where this was going. He turned so that he could face Shiro, preparing himself for Shiro’s usual problem solving routine. “Isolate what we know. I remember how it works.”

“So what do we know?” Shiro said with a small smirk. This little trick helped the pair of them, and the rest of their friend group as well, solve many a problem during their school days. Of course it didn’t have much practical use for their regular classwork, but Pidge did find it enjoyable to help solve small ‘mysteries’, like figuring out who ate her leftover pasta.

It was Hunk. Lance watched.

“It was Shocker and Rhino. They’re not that smart but Shocker is clever when he needs to be. Rhino…well he’s big.” Keith shook his head, still not tired of this silly ‘game’ of theirs but finding its purpose a bit futile in this scenario.

“Go on?” Shiro said, crossing his arms as he anxiously tapped his finger on his other arm as he too tried to help solve this puzzle.

“They were robbing a bank. Classic move, but then Alexei started wrecking stuff and Herman seemed to just let him after a while.”

“So what possible causes do we have?”

“Not many. There could be a big bad in play, maybe someone leading the two of them.” Keith paused. “But they don’t work for Fisk. And last I checked, Octavius isn’t exactly a team player.”

Shiro paused as well, silent before he snapped his fingers. “Common goal?” he asked with a raised brow.

“You mean besides getting money? Dunno. Both of them have been quiet for a while. Herman got away but I managed to wear Alexei down enough to tire him out and get Ryker’s officers to take him away.”

“You think that was their plan?”

“For Rhino to get captured and Herman to get away with little to none of the money? Not likely.”

“Any other ulterior motives?”

“Maybe they just wanted to make a scene.”

“Maybe.” Now their discussion was getting heated, both of them leaning in slightly, their hearts racing as their dialogue fired back and forth between them, words racing to catch up with their thoughts.

“Have they done anything like this before?” Shiro asked.

“All the time.”

“Ever been successful?”

“Rarely.”

“Textbook definition of insanity.”

“Einstein’s definition,” Keith corrected.

“Right, but still. Whatever they wanted to do, they failed.”

“Supposedly.”

“And you got one of them.”

“I did.”

“And the other guy didn’t get any money?”

“If he did it was probably enough for the train back to wherever he lives.”

“Which means what?”

“It means…” Keith’s eyes darted back and forth, just only slightly. Slightly enough that the only reason Shiro noticed was because he was less than a foot away from Keith’s face as their intense dissection of the night’s event went on. “It means that…”

“It means,” Shiro answered for him, “that you need to stop worrying about it. As far as I’m concerned, tonight was a win. Maybe not a complete win, but you still won regardless.” He closed the gap between them to give Keith’s forehead a gentle kiss. A welcomed kiss at that; one that Keith closed his eyes and let out a small hum in gratitude. “Don’t stress out about it. If it meant anything, the answer will show up eventually. But as far as I’m concerned, this was just a couple of idiots trying to cause trouble, and then you went down there and showed them who’s boss.”

Keith chuckled, nodding his head a little as he looked back up at Shiro. “Yeah, guess I did.”

Shiro smiled back, the two of them simply staring at one another for a brief moment. A moment that neither of them felt any awkward tension or uncertainty. It was just them, caring for one another as they always had been. It felt warm and soft and radiant. It felt like home.

Shiro glanced down at Keith’s bare chest, noticing a few cuts and scrapes there that needed attention. He cleared his throat before he grabbed the cloth and applied just a little more alcohol. “Alright, back to work then.”

“Okay,” Keith said, leaning back a little so Shiro had more room to work. This time he definitely winced at the pain, though thankfully it wasn’t as bad as his back. Must have just been because it was fresh or something, he wasn’t sure. What he was sure of however was that he and Shiro needed to continue their conversation from earlier. As he winced a second time at another slow swipe across his chest, Shiro took notice and tried to think of a way to distract Keith somehow.

“Want me to put on some music?” Shiro asked.

“Why? You bored of me already?” Keith jabbed almost playfully.

Shiro ignored the tease and pulled out his phone. “Thought it might take your mind off the pain.”

Keith was flattered that Shiro still wanted to make him as comfortable as possible. He always had a caregiver attitude. “Yeah. Sounds nice,” Keith admitted.

Shiro had already pulled up a radio station on his phone. Normally he would listen to the music he already had downloaded, but force of habit had him turn on the radio just in case there was some kind of emergency broadcast about some super-powered maniac causing trouble. He did it whenever Keith was around just to help take his mind off of things but also keep him in the loop. A request originally, but one Shiro didn’t mind accepting.

There was a slight pause before the music started playing. But then a slow fade of a piano and a steady drum echoed through his phone’s speakers, the voices and rhythm of an eighties love ballad breaking the otherwise silent room.

_‘When I make love to you, tonight  
Tonight, I celebrate my love for you’_

That was all the two heard before Shiro quickly snatched up his phone and turned that station off, trying desperately to find a different, less awkward station. He found no such luck with another station playing ‘Careless Whisper’, the next ‘Hollaback Girl’, and whatever weird combo of pop and rock the next station had decided to play. None of which were Keith’s kind of music. With a sigh, and ignoring the small smirk and slight laughter that escaped Keith, Shiro abandoned the music idea and turned his phone back off.

“Well, so much for that idea,” he said in an almost defeated tone.

“At least you tried,” Keith said through his chuckle, still finding it nice that Shiro made an attempt at breaking the tension between them…somehow.

“I guess we’ll have to find some other way to make this a little more bearable,” Shiro said before he went on with his work. He hated seeing Keith in pain. He knew that the sooner he got him cleaned up, the sooner he would start to feel better and reduce his risk of infection or some other permanent damage.

“Yeah,” Keith affirmed, glancing away from Shiro for a moment as the cold rag gently dragged across another one of his scrapes. “Guess I broke my promise to you…sorry.”

“What do you mean?” Shiro asked.

“I told you I would be careful.” He looked down at his chest, the dried blood being carefully wiped away and leaving just a few red scuff marks across his chest and upper torso. “Guess I need to relearn what that word means.”

Shiro sighed dejectedly. “Keith, you’re fine. I’m sure you were as careful as you could have been.”

“I know what it meant to you,” Keith spoke, looking back at Shiro. “Asking me to be careful out there. I know you, and I know you probably thought about what you were going to say and how to say it. You’re meticulous like that.”

“Yeah…but I could have been a little better at it,” Shiro admitted, drying off the damp part of Keith’s skin before moving from one side of his chest to the other. “I didn’t want things to end like that.”

Keith shook his head. “I don’t think either of us really had a choice in the matter,” he pointed out with a small chuckle.

Shiro returned the chuckle, looking back up into Keith’s bright eyes. “Yeah, I guess not,” he agreed. It amazed him that, despite everything that had happened this night, Keith still somehow managed to look as bright and as radiant as always.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Do you?”

“I think we have to.”

Shiro sighed, pausing before he moved to put the cloth and alcohol away. “Yeah. I think we need to too.” He swung his leg off the couch, planting his feet on the couch as he leaned back against his couch. “So…you’re not mad, are you?”

Keith hadn’t really answered the question himself. Was he mad? Was he even hurt? Was he trying to find ways to justify Shiro’s actions instead of holding him accountable? “I’m not sure.”

“I am.”

Keith snapped his head to look at Shiro, his eyes showing concern and worry. “You’re mad at me?”

“No. At myself,” Shiro clarified. “I shouldn’t have said that to you. I was out of line.” He looked back at Keith, wanting to say this properly. “I was just worried that you would get hurt. And after everything that’s happened, I didn’t want to lose you.”

“Shiro…”

He looked down at his legs for a moment, sighing before continuing. “But I went about it the wrong way. I turned into Adam in a way. I tried to tell you how to live your life just to fit my own idea of how things needed to be between us and-”

“Stop,” Keith interrupted, sliding a little closer to Shiro, reaching out to cup his cheek and return his gaze back to him. “You weren’t like him. You were actually concerned about me. He was just…honestly, he was a dick.”

Shiro chuckled a little, a soft smile breaking through his melancholy expression. Keith counted that as a minute win, a glimmer of hope that things weren’t as bad as they seemed between them.

“He did that because he was controlling and threatened to leave if you didn’t listen to him. You were just asking me to be vigilant out there. I don’t think you can really compare the two. I…I shouldn’t have said that to you. You weren’t acting anything like him. I’m sorry. I get why you asked me to be more careful. I mean, look at me.” Keith gestured to his bruised and battered chest, the warm and steady burn of his blood flow combating that of the cool chill the alcohol was leaving on his skin.

Shiro’s smile remained, his gaze lingering on Keith’s chest for a moment longer before he looked back at his love. He took Keith’s hand in his own, gliding his thumb over the back of Keith’s rough and worn down palm. “I should have just worded it differently. I meant what I said, just maybe not how I said it.”

“Well, here’s your second chance if you want to take it.”

Another small chuckle. Shiro wondered if Keith really meant to make him laugh sometimes; half the time it felt like the vigilante wasn’t even trying and was getting such a reaction from Shiro simply by being himself. “It’s scary seeing you go out there. And I know you have this responsibility. It’s amazing the things you can do, and it’s even more amazing and admirable that you want to help people with those abilities. But I see you get hurt all the time and…I don’t want to sound selfish. I don’t want to sound like I’m just trying to keep you for myself. I just want to make sure I actually…that you’ll still come back.”

Keith gave Shiro’s hand a small squeeze. “I always do,” he reassured. “But I need to apologize too. I shouldn’t have compared you to Adam. That was…that was completely out of line and nothing like what he tried to do to you.”

“It wasn’t that different in hindsight.”

“It kinda was,” the hero reaffirmed. “Shiro, I really am so sorry I said that. It was completely inappropriate and I never should have even considered saying that to you. You were saying that because you cared about me. Adam was saying that because he was…”

“A dick,” Shiro repeated, this time getting a small chuckle out of Keith. The two looked at each other for a moment, both of them realizing with a breath of relief that their relationship hadn’t been ruined. It was going to take a lot more than a simple fight over a misunderstanding to break their bond. “I think we both kind of lost track of what we were saying. We maybe got turned around and mixed up and…we should try that again.”

Keith nodded. “Right,” he said with a sigh.

“For what it’s worth,” Shiro went on, “I really am sorry I made you think I was asking you to choose between being Spider-Man and being with me. Obviously I would never want to do that to you. You mean more to me than anything else, and the last thing I want to do to you is make you feel like I’m pushing you away. Not after all we’ve been through.”

“It’s okay. I know you weren’t trying to do that.”

“So, I promise I won’t worry about so much and just let you do your thing. Clearly you know what you’re doing out there anyways. And if you don’t then you have a very good way of hiding it.”

Keith chuckled again before giving Shiro a small shrug. “It’s a gift I guess.” He squeezed his hand once more. “And I promise I’ll do a better job of taking care of myself and making sure I come back with less marks on me for you to clean up.”

“Unless you end up fighting that Octavius guy again.”

“Thank you, because fighting a guy with four extra arms isn’t exactly a walk in the park.”

They both laughed, Shiro doubling over as all the tension in the room seemed to disappear in an instant. It may not have been exactly how he hoped things would go, but at least Keith was still here. And thankfully, it didn’t look like he was going anywhere anytime soon. He was here to stay.

“So, we’re okay?” Keith asked, moving to wrap his arm around Shiro’s shoulders.

Shiro looked up at Keith, sitting upright before turning himself to fully face Keith, tucking his hand under his chin before responding. “Yeah. Yeah we’re okay.” He closed the gap between them, pulling Keith into a welcomed hug, careful not to hold him too tight lest he hurt his back anymore.

The hero of course hugged Shiro back, closing his eyes as he melted into the familiar shape of Shiro’s embrace. “I really am sorry, Shiro.”

“I know. But it’s okay. I forgive you.”

“I forgive you, too…I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to keep saying it.”

“I know.”

“But you’re still going to, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“Heh…Keith,” Shiro whispered before kissing the side of Keith’s head, his tangled mess of hair tickling his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Keith said, giving Shiro a tighter squeeze.

“You have anything else I need to help you clean up?”

“Takashi, are you just trying to get me to take my pants off?”

Shiro’s eyes snapped open, before he pulled back just enough to look down at Keith, his brow raised as he smirked at the younger man. “Do you _want_ me to do that?”

Keith paused, thinking the idea over for a second. “I want to say yes, but I’m so sore right now I don’t think it would be that much fun. For either of us.”

Shiro laughed as he brushed Keith’s hair out of his face, kissing his forehead as he replied, “Good to know.”

“So are we just going to let that pizza sit there for the rest of the night or are we at least going to try and eat it?” Keith asked, nodding towards the pizza that at this point was definitely cold and past the point of no return when it came to still looking like an actual pizza considering how much it had been tossed around.

Nodding, Shiro stood up to grab the pizza box, opening it up as he moved back to the couch to inspect its quality. “Honestly, it’s not as bad as I was expecting,” he admitted as he sat back down next to Keith, setting the box down on the coffee table in front of them. The pizza itself had certainly seen better days, or in this case minutes. Cheese and pepperoni were stuck to the top of the box, bits of sauce had been spread out, and it looked like the crust had started to get soggy with the amount of sauce that had been sprawled out over it. Maybe Shiro was right earlier when he said they needed a fork and knife to actually eat this.

“Told you I knew what I was doing.”

“I still say the jury’s out on that one.”

“You’re mean.”

“Just shut up and eat,” Shiro spat with a mischievous grin as he took a careful and, through no fault of his own, messy bite.

“Man I’m gonna be so sore in the morning,” Keith groaned before he followed suit, taking a small bite of the mess he had brought over for them.

“Warm water and relaxation. That’s all you’ll need. Don’t you have some kind of healing factor anyways?”

“Doesn’t mean it’s a walk in the park for me, Shiro,” Keith pointed out, playfully jabbing Shiro’s shoulder before he crossed his legs.

Shiro wiped his mouth, burying the urge to punch Keith back or else risk giving him another bruise he obviously didn’t need right now. “Well, in the morning, just make sure you take a hot shower, use ice packs if you need to for any swelling, and take it easy. Massage any of the sore spots if you need to.”

“Okay doctor,” Keith teased, his mouth still partially full of lasagna-pizza.

“I’m just trying to help,” Shiro snickered.

“I don’t know how I’m going to be able to massage my back though. My arms and legs, sure. But my back I guess I’ll just have to grin and bear it.”

Shiro looked to his bedroom, taking another small bite before he followed his gut and asked, “Well, if you want, maybe I could help you tomorrow too? You-you know, if you want to stay that is.” Keith had stayed the night at Shiro’s place before, but yet every time Shiro brought up the idea he felt as if it was the first. As if they were starting their relationship from scratch and they had never done such a thing before.

It was one of the many, many things Shiro did that Keith found to be unremarkably adorable and, in a way, cute. Shiro knew that Keith wasn’t exactly the best when it came to relationships in the past and always wanted to make sure Keith was comfortable. But this? This was just adorable considering the fact they had been through this time and time again. “Are you asking me to stay the night, Shiro?”

“Maybe,” he answered with a slight blush.

“And when have I ever turned down the offer?”

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“What do you think?”

Shiro was silent for a very brief moment before responding playfully, “I think you’d make a terrible pizza delivery guy."

Keith had to give it to Shiro, that was actually kind of funny. He laughed, almost spitting out his bite. But not a small chuckle either; an actual hearty laugh. The kind where he subconsciously covered his mouth, squinting at Shiro as his shoulders shook with each boisterous cackle. “You jerk,” he said as he tried to calm himself.

Shiro laughed in return, both by finding his own jab at Keith to be a little amusing, but also at how Keith’s laugh always seemed to lift his spirits. Compared to how Keith was in school, the quiet and shy and wallflower of a student, seeing him like this always made Shiro feel as if he was on top of the world; absolutely untouchable.

He wrapped his arm around Keith, pulling him closer in order to kiss his cheek. “I know.”

With a blush, Keith seized the opportunity and gave Shiro a proper kiss on his lips. It wasn’t long, but it lasted long enough to get his point across. But just in case, he didn’t hesitate to say it aloud.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”


End file.
